* monster

“you know the drill, same time next week. now hit the showers — you guys stink.” a tinkle of laughter travels through group of munchkins and jonghyun smiles warmly back at them, ruffling a few heads as they run past him to head to the locker rooms. the warm feeling only lasts so long, not when there’s dread lurking in the back of your mind in wait.

dread that’s walking up to him that very moment, someone who just happens to be his boyfriend. how wonderful. or at least it would be if he hadn’t been avoiding the other ever since he had woken up in this new timeline to discover he had a boyfriend, much less that man being the critically acclaimed byun baekhyun. clearly, the world working in mysterious ways — just his luck.

he forces a smile onto his lips, albeit smaller than it had been earlier but it’s there as he reaches down and picks up his little dufflebag he went rarely without on these coaching days. “yay, lucky me.” he ignores how… fake his voice might’ve come off because truth being told, he still didn’t know how to act around baekhyun after all this time. it was hard enough differentiating between the two baekhyuns of two different timelines, reminding himself on those mornings he’d wake up with a face snoozing beside him that it was normal to have the other there, an arm wrapped around his middle. ( hard to do so when jongin’s face would flash before his eyes, each time without fail. )

he attempts to make up for the dryness by (sighing and) reaching down to lightly place a kiss upon the other’s forehead. the affection is there though, he can’t deny it. it’s hard being someone’s boyfriend, learning how to be someone’s boyfriend ( without said boyfriend finding out he was doing so ) without picking up on some feelings. it didn’t help that jonghyun was naturally an affectionate person — he thrived off the attention and love people around him fed him and then in return, he fed them. somewhere down the road, it got easier, more realistic when he reached down to give baekhyun a goodnight kiss or when he wrapped his arms around the other to nuzzle his face in his neck and press a kiss onto his skin in greeting. 

didn’t mean it wasn’t weird though. and the fact that it had to end — except jonghyun didn’t know how to do it. how do you say ‘hey so i woke up from an alternative timeline where everyone died to realize my other self was dating and probably to at least some extent in love with you but i don’t really feel the same way, so we should probably break up because i feel bad — but hey, still wanna be friends?’ without saying that whatsoever? maybe jonghyun was making it more complicated than it had to be.

either way, he makes a gesture. “lead the way.” he decides to wait for the other to start walking before he joins in step, hands behind his back clutching his bag and he racks his brain to say something before the other comments on how strange he’s been for the nth time. “how was your day… baby?” he prays the last addition to his sentence didn’t sound too off.

the small smile slips too easily off baekhyun’s lips at the unfamiliar tone in the other’s voice -- actually, it’s not that unfamiliar anymore by now. it suddenly appeared a couple of months ago. out of nowhere around the time jonghyun started to act differently, to be different. like an entirely new person -- that shows him that he isn’t too happy about his presence around here.

it’s fine, because baekhyun doesn’t enjoy standing in an open field in the autumn sun either. he’d prefer it much more to simply slip away into his own familiarity. he knew jonghyun would be like this;

that’s the exact reason why he’s here after all.

“lucky you, indeed,” he repeats dryly, a hint of sarcasm stuffed into his voice. his usual expression is back on his face, a mixture of boredom and indifference because baekhyun’s never been a fan of forcing a smile. but he’s feeling everything but indifferent at the moment -- he’s going to force jonghyun to stop ignoring him, to avoiding him like he’s having a life without him. ( nobody should dare to act like this around him, the one who lives in the shadows. a monster that could end all of this quickly. especially not his boyfriend. )

and, for some reason, the display of affection catches him off guard, it’s something he didn’t think it would happen, something that goes against the way he acts. but it still only manages to pull a snort out of him, baekhyun looking amused for a second. “look at you greeting your boyfriend like he’s a kid.” with those words he leans upwards, pressing their lips together only briefly before stepping away and turning around.

jonghyun’s not going to find his way around any of this tonight.

her middle finger pressed against the space between her eyebrows, not wanting to get permanent marks out of pure disappointment. with each day that passed, it seemed like baekhyun discovered something else he didn’t know about. somehow, jisoo was there to listen about it with his incredibly nice words. in some way, it reflected her own thoughts as well. what the fuck is water polo? it echoed inside her head. she couldn’t help but let a sigh escape from her lips. the frustration bottled inside had to leave somehow.

“it’s like people playing handball but in water.” she set her hand free once again, hiding it under an arm as she crossed them over her chest. “what about angry? i’d use a lot of those right now.” a thought about sending him a message filled with emojis came to mind, but she had just gotten her hands cozy and there was no way jisoo was dropping comfort for baekhyun. “or the disappointment face!” she opened her mouth in a sarcastic happy smile. it always took time for coffee to have an effect, but tiredness was a constant. “it’s like showing your expressions through text, but using round, yellow faces with void eyes.”

and so his comment won a snort. if anyone deserved criticism between the two it was most certainly him. it was true jisoo wasn’t meant to teach people anything - or being taught, either, but that was for another time. the girl was still never in the mood to let people assume she sucked at anything. “maybe you’re the one who sucks at learning. it wouldn’t be the first time.” jisoo finally gave in to deliver a shrug, freeing her hands to reach for her own phone. “people shouldn’t be taught how to use emojis; it’s like a natural second language.”

himself in words has already been one of the hardest tasks for him ever since he started the life of a human, since he was forced more or less against his will to leave his old being, his true nature behind for this; something he never wanted, something he still dislikes so much. so, baekhyun really doesn’t need all that modern crap like emojis, too, to make things even harder on him.

he thinks that he deserves more than having this much trouble.

at least, he’s gotten good enough at reading others and their expressions, their gestures but jisoo’s always been like an open book -- to him, he has no idea how it is for others but it’s not like he cares much about that. knowing that he’s probably annoying the girl does manage to give him some sort of comfort. only for a few moments, though. “you should always use the angry face in that case,” he snarls, although, it comes out a little more sulkingly. like she’s offended him or something.

maybe, she did. a little.

he tries to jab her into the side, to make her uncomfortable in some kind of way as revenge. “i never said that i’m good with these things.” and jisoo never said she’s good with teaching him those. but, maybe, always asking her for explanations is because of the underlying reason of wanting to see her and spend some time with her. baekhyun wouldn’t know how else he’d get her to be with him. “how am i supposed to know? i haven’t even experienced most of the emotions those faces have?”

the other’s hostility is understandable.

while dongmin isn’t someone to really be hostile to anyone, even when he does find them rather suspicious, the teen can understand while others might be a little less welcoming. he didn’t fault the other male for it, after all, the teen had come out of no where and interrupted his time with the kitten. he really couldn’t help himself. the kittens are so cute, and dongmin likes to spend as much time with animals as he can since he can’t own one himself. 

since the other male didn’t instantly demand him to go away, dongmin took that as an okay to get closer. moving quietly and hesitantly because he doesn’t want to scare off the kittens. the comment about him being weird making the teen grin slightly. first time someone has commented on him being weird– but he figured it had to do with the fact he’s not full card. he never has gotten the chance to ask what feels different between him and other cards. 

“the kittens…” he spoke quietly, crouching down next to the other male but keeping his hands to himself. he knows animals aren’t always welcoming to new people, and dongmin didn’t want to scare them off or something.  the stranger probably wouldn’t appreciate that, and dongmin doesn’t want to get on the wrong side of the other male. “i… i heard the meowing walking by. i hope you don’t mind.”

because if the other did mind, dongmin would absolutely leave. this male was here first, and dongmin wasn’t someone to but into someone elses time. ironic, considering what his magic is. he didn’t think it would be worth if to cause a fight or something, especially not with the kittens here. 

his expression changed to a soft smile, feeling the urge to start cooing at them– but managing to hold it back. “they’re so little… and cute. 

it’s good that the kittens are more or less used to contact with humans in some kind of way -- as much human as one can see baekhyun, who’s actually more of a monster. a monster in a human disguise to keep himself safe -- with how much baekhyun finds himself returning to this dark, secluded allea to feed them; it’s their home and baekhyun feels comfortable here as well with all the shadows looming around.

because otherwise, he would’ve been pretty pissed at the boy for scaring the poor creatures, for causing them to run away before they even got a bite to eat and making him angry has never worked out well for anyone. his powers can’t help him out a lot in such situations, baekhyun not able to torture, to even simply hurt anyone with his ability to slip away quietly in the blink of an eye but he always carries a knife around. thank you, ethan.

fortunately, the boy seems to be clever enough to be careful. he looks more like the clumsy type so baekhyun’s surprised.

if it was a mere human, baekhyun wouldn’t be this ‘friendly’, would’ve long sent him away -- although, this boy doesn’t seem like he’s entirely a card either. it’s weird, he’s weird; just like baekhyun said before. “whatever.” a shrug of shoulders follows, fingers reaching inside the bag again to pull out a second can of cat food. “i don’t care. as long as you don’t scare the cats.” said kittens are all trying to rub their heads against every spot of baekhyun’s body they can reach, eager to get fed.

@ccbaekhyun

he loves animals. 

he has always loved animals, pretty much for as long as he can remember– which really isn’t that long. he knows animals are always doing their best, and he supports that. he told eva once that if he could choose to be one thing in the world it would be to be an animal. specifically a dog or lion– yes, he knows those are two very different animals, but he loves them. dogs are just so fluffy, and every form of cat from lion to house cat, are precious. 

of course, eva doesn’t agree but thats before cats chase after her. 

his love for animals is probably going to get him into some form of trouble one day before he has no sense of judgement when it comes to them. dongmin would probably jump in front of an on coming train just to save the life of a tiny bird. like honestly, they’re such important foundations to dongmin’s who life, its a wonder he hasn’t created or joined a club about loving animals.

he would probably own one by now if the orphanage didn’t hate animals. it’s a risk having Eva, because if she was discovered, he doesn’t know what would happen. sure, the caretakers can only see a sugar glider, but he doubted they would appreciate him having this tiny creature around. they threw a hissy fit when one of the younger kids tried bringing a kitten in. it’s annoying. dongmin’s old enough to take care of his own pet, he has a job– or he’ll have a new one soon, so he could over the charge.

a pout formed on the teens face as he scuffled down the road, hands in his jacket pocket and gaze on the ground. he’d been loitering around since class ended, not wanting to go back to the orphanage just yet. Eva has been trying to convince him to find some where to practice his magic, but dongmin still doesn’t like using it if he can help himself. it still worries him using it, worried that’s how he would be found. he doesn’t know why he’s so worried about hero’s but he is, he knows that they wouldn’t be nice for him. 

one of those is sex. something, he can get plenty of whenever he wants to and the other is animals. especially cats.

he likes everything about them;

their soft fur, their small and pointy ears, those soft paws, the sweet mewls they make whenever they want something. and, of course, their purring whenever they feel good. cats are the most endearing creatures he’s ever seen, something he -- cruel and ruthless. without care and distant, a being of the darkness -- pretty much fell in love with the moment he first saw them in that dirty alley behind work. they’re his weakness, his soft spot. something he started to care about after all those years amongst boring humans he constantly wished to wipe out, cravings for blood and flesh. but around them, he just feels at ease. it’s nice, baekhyun welcomes it.

what he doesn’t welcome are intruders, though. he notices the stranger approaching before the cats even get the chance to perk their ears at the sound of someone coming closer. familiar magic runs down his spine, tickles his skin, although, there’s something different about it.

part of him wonders if this is a trap. something to lure cards in– some sort of ploy by heroes or humans or other cards. namjoon doesn’t quite believe most of what that old man had claimed, but he wouldn’t ever figure it out unless he attempted.

and besides– it gives him something to do, and maybe it might be worth his while. maybe not, but never know until you try. 

the mansion is huge. certainly, and it almost makes namjoon reconsider this entire ordeal; but he shoots back the apprehension and hesitation and hums, fingering the coin in his hand as he takes lazy steps forward, eyes trailing over the building with suspicion and a tad bit of interest. his tongue prods against the inside of his cheek. he doesn’t know exactly what to expect– but he hopes it isn’t a trap, hopes it’s not going to be something he ends up kicking himself later for.

he senses the thrum of magic is in his bones. it’s a card, and namjoon feels him before he sees him. his eyebrows raise in question as he meets the other’s eyes, and offers a small polite smile. 

“hello.” he greets dryly, chuckling as he shuts his eyes and glancing up. he flicks the coin up in the air and catches it, holding it loosely between two fingers to show it. “you’d be correct. given by an old stranger? i’m beginning to think i’m walking into a set up.” he chuckles, his tone of voice sounding like a joke but namjoon means it. “you wouldn’t happen to know what we’re expecting in there, would you?” he nods his head in the direction of the building. “i’m almost dying to find out.” he makes a few steps forward, glancing at the new male to see if he’s moving as well. “did you come here to satiate curiosity as well?”

the other greets him but baekhyun doesn’t return it, he’s never been someone polite, has never had any real manners to begin with -- neither with humans and heroes nor with other cards, those of the same kind who should actually understand him and his lack of respect for the rules of the human world, this modern age -- and, instead, continues to look at him almost in something close to suspicion; as if the boy was a part of this, of what he believed could be a trap.

baekhyun’s pretty sure he isn’t, though.

his eyes follow the coin briefly, flickering upwards before they’re back on the other’s face, his own hands not able to stand still and finding their way into the pockets of his hands. “it seems like it, doesn’t it?” a scoff easily slips past his lips. “i’m not sure what i expected but it wasn’t this. they’re luring us in with a fancy home and a promise of food and safety.” or they’re trying to, at least. it sounds too good to be be true. not that he’d want all of that, it’s nothing he’s craving, baekhyun being fond with his small and shabby apartment, with the boxes of instant noodles he gets to eat. “it sounds unreal.”